Shattered Sight
by ButterflyMiko
Summary: An early snowfall besets all of Konoha with a horrible spell causing them to turn on each other, and only those with dojutsu are immune. Sasuke finds that a priestess who is being targeted by a mysterious circus might hold the key to saving Konoha from the Spell of Shattered Sight.
1. Snowscape

Sai had just finished a beautiful painting of a snowscape. He placed it in the Konoha Museum and admired it.

Suddenly he saw a dot in the painting.

An imperfection?

Sai squinted at it.

The dot got bigger.

Bigger.

Something was coming...a woman.

The woman stepped out of the painting in a flash and grabbed Sai, dragging him inside.

"The Beautiful Planet Earth. With a touch of my cold fingers, I will make this beauty mine!"

She extended her arms and ice crystals fell to earth along with the snow.

Sai looked outside as he was dragged. When had it begun to snow.

The scene changed.

Sai was walking through the snow.

A snow crystal fell into his eye.

"I was lonely. You have gotten the first piece of me. You are my eternal companion." Queen Bandiane wrapped her arms around him. "Stay with me...Stay within the dream...Sai..."

Xxx

Four girls, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were all having the same dream. They were running through the lush jungles of the Amazon. Hinata fell down and started to cry. The other girls stopped and helped her back up. Then, they saw something glittering in a nearby pond. The girls went into the pond and walked up to it. It was a beautiful mirror. They picked it out of the sand. A woman spoke to them from inside the mirror.

The woman had long dark hair to her feet. Her eyes were the blue of the night sky. Her skin was pale moonlight. Her dress was like starlight.

The girls were amazed at the talking mirror.

"I wonder if it's a magic mirror!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yes, I can use magic," the woman told them. "I am called Madame Bandiane."

The girls were delighted.

"Thank you for waking me up," Bandiane said. "As a symbol of my gratitude, I want to give you these." Four billiard balls, the Dream Stones, appeared before them. "With the Dream Stones, you can use magic too and you can be young and beautiful forever."

Xxx

One day near the end of December, Naruto was in the kitchen with Sasuke baking cookies. Everyone was amazed at Sasuke as he used the bottom of a glass to push down balls of cookie dough to make each cookie a perfect circle. Suddenly, the cuckoo clock chimed and the bird came out of the clock.

"Oh! The 3 o'clock fairy already?" Rock Lee said.

"The 3 o'clock fairy?" Neji asked.

"My mother made cakes for me when I was little," Rock Lee explained. "Once when I asked her why she made cakes at 3:00 and she said, "That's because of the 3 o'clock fairy! At 3 o'clock, the fairies come to tell every mother to make sweet snacks for their children. I didn't really know when she meant so I thought the bird that came out of the cuckoo clock was the fairy."

Naruto took out the cookies.

"Naruto! Your cookies!" Sasuke said.

Everyone laughed, except for Naruto.

Naruto yelled back, "Shut up! My cookies can beat yours by their superb taste! They are special enough so that one bite makes you energetic and powerful hundreds of times over!"

Everyone crowded around Naruto's cookies, which tasted really good despite how they looked.

Xxx

Sasuke was standing outside the bakery looking inside . On the way, he spotted a girl looking into a window of a bakery.

She was wearing a blue cheongsam with white lilies. Her ebony hair was done up nicely, braided and wrapped around her head like a crown. Her eyes were the color of the night sky, a dark blue.

Sasuke thought she was very suspicious-looking. He stood next to her and started to stare at her from different directions. She smiled at him and he frowned back.

"What are you doing here? Are you waiting for someone?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm watching the children come out of the store, they look so happy," Kuri said.

Sasuke frowned. "That's because this is a sweet snack store."

"Yeah, Konoha is really nice! Every mother looks really gentle." Kuri said.

"Yes. The mothers do." Sasuke said.

Kuri laughed, "You are funny. This is a great city! Even the snacks even look happy!"

Sasuke peered into the window. "You know how they feel?"

"Look! They almost start dancing to make children happy." Kuri said.

"To me, they just look like food." Sasuke commented.

Kuri began to play her flute and several cookies formed a dancing figure. Sasuke was shocked. When she stopped playing, the cookies returned to normal. Kuri quickly faced Sasuke and stuck out her hand. "I am Kuri!"

Sasuke looked at her hand in surprise but then shook it and said, "My name is Sasuke."

Sasuke and Kuri walked to the end of the street together. Sasuke handed his cookies to Kuri.

"What are they?" She asked.

"They are my homemade cookies," he replied. Kuri stared at them for awhile.

"Can I keep them?" Kuri asked.

Sasuke nodded and Kuri was very happy.

Kuri said, "Good-bye!" and waved to him as she left.

Sasuke happily waved back.

Suddenly the two looked into the sky. A flying craft with spotted sails appears in the air. Voices call out from it.

Standing on the craft were the missing women: Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten.

"Come on! Come on! The circus is here!"

"The city of lights, filled with beautiful dreams!"

"The land we've longed for! We've been waiting and waiting for this time!"

"The arrival of our Eclipse Circus!"

The craft vanished.

The light from the Eclipse struck Sasuke and he doubled over, falling. He felt warm arms encircle him, and then...nothing.


	2. Illusion

"_What...? It smells sweet... I wonder if this is heaven..." _Sasuke saw a beautiful dark haired priestess looking down at him. "I...I'm hungry..."

It was that woman from the bakery. She was a priestess?

"Ah, you're awake," she said. "Your stomach growled, Sasuke. Want some onigiri? You asked for that in your sleep."

"I...!?" Sasuke thought. "I was saved? You saved me?"

"It's good you didn't look at that Eclipse dead-on," Kuri said. "But you did scrape your arm a little. Anyone with a dojutsu is susceptible to the Yume." A cloth was tied around his arm, and it was cleaned up.

"Sasuke..." Kuri said. "Eat up. Your powers will return."

_"This person seems nice..."_ Sasuke thought as he ate, his powers indeed returning. _"Who is she? And, where on earth am I? Why can't I use my jutsu? I can't even summon up chakra!"_

The woman went to the next room, where someone was asleep. It was Sai.

Kuri sat beside him, and he sat up, but said nothing to her.

"I see, so its still like that, ne?" Kuri said softly. "Big Brother..."

Sasuke was shocked. _Sai has a younger sister? Why does he have that vacant expression? He is moving and reaching for the food, but he seems unresponsive otherwise._

The light glinted on his right eye, and there was a flash of gold.

Suddenly Sai gripped her neck violently and threw her against the wall.

Kuri pulled herself to her feet. "Swan Feathers!"

A barrier was erected around Sai, binding him and forcing him back down to the bed.

Xxx

Kuri found Sasuke standing in the doorway. "Enjoying the show?"

"What...what's wrong with him?" Sasuke asked breathlessly.

"It's called the Spell of Shattered Sight." Kuri said. "There is a shard of a cursed mirror in his right eye, causing his perception to become distorted. Those he loves, his family and friends, become his worst enemies. He says things he doesn't mean, but they are also things that are true, buried deep within."

The priestess began to change his bandages. Sasuke noticed she was covered in fresh wounds.

"How long has this been going on?" Sasuke asked.

"Ever since the Hokage was named." Kuri said. "Around the time those women were taken."

"You said taken." Sasuke said. "You mean they were abducted? And the spell? And the light that injured me...it's all from the same source, isn't it?"

In response, Kuri turned the TV in the corner on.

"This is still top-secret, but several days ago, the comet Bandiane suddenly appeared. It's hard to believe, but this time it's been identified as having a collision course for Earth."

_"What did she say!?"_ Sasuke thought.

"It has a diameter of 10 kilometers. Clearly, it was a comet the same size that wiped out the dinosaurs when it collided with Earth. An emergency meeting of every country is being called. Unless we can somehow stop it..."

They zoomed in on photos of the comet.

Sasuke gasped. "_It looks just like Sai's painting!"_


	3. Ribbon

A comet's heading for Earth!?" Shikamaru said.

"Could it be...?" Neji said. "The comet Sasuke and Naruto were talking about at the party!?"

"Colliding with a heavenly body 10 kilometers in diameter..." said Gaara. "The probability is one in a million of something like that happening."

Xxx

_"A comet is going to collide with Earth?"_ Sasuke thought. _"They calculated its orbit. "Since its discovery, its orbit has changed, and now it's heading right for Earth! And it resembles Sai's painting!"_

Sasuke looked into his mirror. _"The comet's brilliance..."_ he said. _"It's fading away. I can't see it anymore. Be relieved! It looks like it's gone. It must have burned up."_

Sasuke smiled. He looked down and saw the cloth tied around his arm.

"I don't believe it," Kuri said. "Princess Snow Bandiane suddenly disappeared."

"That's surprising," said Sai. "Very."

"We'll announce that it burned up abruptly when it approached the sun. It happens often. We shouldn't cause a big commotion. I didn't see a meteor shower. Strange... If it burned up, we should have seen one." Kuri said.

"It's too bad you couldn't see the remains of the Princess, Kuri." Sai said.

_"She's here,"_ thought Sasuke as he looked in the window. _"Kuri. I'll just return the handkerchief I borrowed."_ He slided it in.

Kuri went to the window. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke jumped down. "Oh no! You saw me!"

He smirked.

"Come with me, Sasuke." Kuri led him into the manor. "It burned up and disappeared. That's too bad."

"I'm inside your room again," Sasuke said.

"What?" Kuri said. She took the handkerchief from his mouth. "This... Is this the handkerchief I bandaged your injury with? Amazing."

"Yes it's all healed now." Sasuke said, sitting on her bed.

"That's good." Kuri smiled shyly.

"Of course." Sasuke leaned in, and his lips touched hers.

Sasuke noticed Sai was fainted on the bed, eyes flickering as if from a nightmare.

Kuri examined Sai's eyes and removed a snow crystal and put it in a Petri dish.

Sasuke took over again."A crystal? It's shaped like a snowflake."

"It was in my brother's eye." Kuri looked concerned. "It looked like the comet and this piece just fell from the moon. It could be a lost article of Madame Bandiane."

"Is that why you named the comet 'Madame Bandiane'?" Sai asks.

Kuri turned around. "Brother!"

"Oh," Sasuke tensed. "Hello Sai."

"You just talk about things in dreams," said Sai. "That's why you're called ditzy by everybody. Even though you're a miko."

"Sai! Kuri!" Naruto called. "The meeting is starting!"

Kuri got up to follow after her brother.

"Kuri!" Sasuke called.

"Yes!" Kuri cried. She ran to him.

"It's all right, Kuri," he said. "That yellow ribbon tied to the bag of rice sugar candy. It would suit you."

He took the yellow ribbon off the bag and tied it around Kuri's neck.

"I'll come see you again, Kuri." Sasuke kissed her forehead.


	4. Potpourri

"Sasuke's looked strange lately?" Naruto asked.

"He only talks half-heartedly," said Rock Lee. "Everyday he goes somewhere by himself."

"And now all he eats is rice sugar candy," said Neji.

"Sasuke," Naruto said. "You rarely go home and you're carefully reading those books?"

Sasuke looked at the book. "Well now," she said. "Snow Princess Bandiane. A princess from the moon who holds the secret to the Dreaming. What is "The Dreaming?"."

"I saw you near Sai's house the other day," Neji said. "Sasuke. Hey, Sasuke, are you just going to sit around again today?"

Xxx

"The crystal's growing...!" said Kuri. "I don't believe it. I can't make a conclusion, but if this crystal came flying from the core of the comet, it could be a link to unraveling the mystery of the birth of the solar system. It's a good thing I got a sample returned from the comet before it disappeared, but it's still unfortunate."

Sasuke looked up from his bowl of rice sugar candy and saw Kuri asleep at his desk. He smiled. He took a blanket and pulled it over him.

Xxx

As Sasuke approached home that night, he saw Naruto and Hinata outside.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Thanks for taking me home."

"See you later." Hinata said.

Sasuke stared at them as they kissed.

Naruto entered his room, drying his hair. "Ah, nice and clean. That smells good. Huh? Sasuek, you're back? Do you want to take one too? Tonight it's a citron bath ttebayo."

"That smells good," said Sasuke. "It's not citron. What's that smell?"

"Potpourri," said Naruto. "Since I put it in my drawer, the scent is in my pajamas. Hehe, look, look. These pajamas are the same cloth as Hinata's."

"Naruto... When you're with Hinata, what do you usually talk about?"

Naruto paused. "We talk about ramen, and stuff, and she watches me work. Then she falls asleep on the sofa ttebayo."

_"That's just like Kuri,"_ Sasuke thought.

"But still," said Naruto. "It's going at my pace like that, and I let it, so I love her."

_"Really?" _Sasuke thought. _"Really..."_

"The way Hinata looks when she's asleep, it's like a child! It's so cute!"

"Oh, I know!" Sasuke said. "Doesn't it? Doesn't it?"

"Sasuke..." said Naruto. "Who are you talking about? Sakura?"

"N- No! Not her! It's nobody."

"Hmph."

"Say, Naruto... What does ki-... kissing taste like?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Err! Well, it tastes... sweet."

Sasuke held the bag of potpourri. "It tastes sweet..."

Xxx

Sasuke sat in the office with Kuri. _"It tastes sweet,"_ he thought. _"I wonder if it tastes like rice sugar candy..."_

"You're eating that stuff again! You'll become a diabetic, Kuri!" Sai said.

"Sai," she said. "I like it. It's like eating bits of stars."

"It's 11 o'clock already," said Sai. "Hurry and finish up, and go home. It's bothering me."

_"What?"_ Sasuke thought. _"That time already!?"_

Sai glared at Sasuke "You brought Sasuke to your room again." As he walked away, he tripped over a book on the ground.

"Look out!" Kuri said.

A pain struck Sai in the head, and they both fell to the floor.

"Sai!?" said Kuri. "What's wrong!?"

"Nothing... Just a little dizziness..." Sai assured her.

"Have you been taking care of yourself? That's why it was impossible for you to be a ninja." Kuri said.

"My duty was to become a high priest and work alongside you, sister." Sai said.

"I don't know of that duty," said Kuri. "No one's looking after me either." She turned on the television.

"Now that the High Priestess, Mana, has been chosen for Konoha..." The screen showed a picture of a young woman, one of Bandiane's henchmen.

"I was dropped," Kuri said. "From the final cut. I'll go back to Suna start over. My sensei thinks that new people should be brought in."

"You have all the chances you want," said Sai.

"Of course! I'm serious about it. Just because I was dropped once, I won't give up. I'm not like you. I don't forget my dreams!" Kuri turned and ran away.

"Kuri!"

_"What should I do?"_ Sasuke thought. He followed her.

"Are you hungry, Sasuke? Let's go home." Kuri took his hand.

"Kuri..." Sasuke looked at her

"Powdery snow," said Kuri. "This year is cold. I think I have milk in the refrigerator..."

She led Sasuke to her brother's bedroom. "Sasuke. The medicine on the counter."

Sasuke looked at the coffee table, which was covered with packages of medicine. "So much medicine...!" Sasuke said. He took a few to Kuri. "Kuri!?"

Kuri took one. "Thanks, Sasuke."

_"What kind of medicine is it,"_ Sasuke thought. _"Oh, if Sakura was here, she could tell what the medicine is."_

He watched as Kuri administered the medicine to Sai.

Sasuke looked a picture on the wall. _"That's pretty,"_ Sasuke thought. "_The moment the sun rises."_

Kuri fell asleep beside her brother's bedside.

Kuri opened her eyes. "Sasuke? You stayed with me until I woke up?"

"I...I did."

They looked out the window.

"The snow has stopped," Kuri said. "It's already dawn. Look at that, a beautiful Earth morning." Kuri yawned. "You smell good," he says. "Is that the scent of flowers? It's the smell of potpourri. When I'm with you, I feel at ease. It seems like you understand everything."

She got into bed and closed his eyes.

"I feel that way too..." Sasuke said. He looked at her. He slowly walked over to her face and kissed her lips. He covered his mouth. He ran out of the room, out of the building. _"Oh..."_ he thought. _"The world is so... beautiful... I kissed her. I... love... her... Kuri..."_


	5. Broken Heart

Kuri sat up. "Sasuke? Guess he went home." She walked to the picture on the wall and took it down. She looked at the other side. It was a postcard.

"Kuri, how are you? I thought you'd like the picture on this postcard, so I sent it to you. The training is intense, but to protect Konoha, I'll do it. Until next time. From Sai." - it stated.

"From Sai... If I remember correctly, I still have vacation time left." Kuri picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"I wonder if Kuri is already at work," Sasuke thought. He went to the Observatory.

"Hello?" said the man inside. "Hikawa? A vacation until the day after tomorrow? I understand. It's fine. Where are you going? To visit your brother?"

"Kuri...?"

"Kuri!?" a man said. "It is Kuri! When did you get here? Do you finally feel like being an agent again? Sai just got here too! Should I call him?"

"No..." said Kuri. "I'm on vacation, just came to look around a bit. I'll be going home soon."

She stared up over the lake.

Sasuke looked at her from behind a bush. _"She just left..."_ he thought.

"Why did you suddenly come to the Observatory?" Sasuke approached her.

Kuri turned around. "Sasuke!? It can't be." Kuri stared at him. "But it is you. Did you follow me?"

"Yes, I followed you." Sasuke admitted.

"I'm attached too..." Kuri said. "Now that I've come to this place... Besides, I'm a bad person. When Sai wasn't chosen for the mission, I was actually relieved."

Xxx

"Oh! Look at the sky!" said the young Sai.

"It is!" says the young Kuri. "I'd like to see a painting of that comet."

"Me too, me too. I'll paint it for you." Sai said.

"What? You want to be an artist too, brother?"

"Yes. I want to paint it myself, your painting: the Dreaming." Sai said.

"Well, let's become artists together!" said Kuri.

"Really?"

"We'll protect our Dream."

"It's a promise! Together, we'll become artists, and protect our Dream!"

Xxx

Kuri stared into the sky. "It's become a time when lots of people can become ninja that easily. But not artists. So I was surprised when brother did both!"

"You haven't forgotten your dream," Sasuke realized.

Kuri doubled over and groaned.

"Kuri!?" Sasuke said in alarm. "What should I do? I have to call someone!" Sasuke started to run. "Kuri! Kuri!"

Sai turns around. "What!? Sasuke!? It can't be!" Sasuke runs away. "Wait! Where are you going!" Sai followed him. "Sasuke!?"

xxx

"A problem with heart dilation?" Sasuke said

"She has arrhythmia," Sai said. "That's why she can't be an agent. There's no operation for her illness. She mustn't overwork herself. We must have her hospitalized quickly."

Sasuke sat down heavily in the chair beside her.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. That you had to come here..." Kuri looked up weakly.

"I guess it's only natural," said Sasuke. "There's no need to worry about it. You'll be in the hospital. I'll stay here for a while until you get all better."


	6. Star

"This medicine is digitalis," Sai said. "It's a diuretic that increases the flow of blood. This is verapamil. It's heart medicine. I wonder if she has a heart disease."

_"A heart disease..." th_ought Sasuke_. "Her heart is ill!? Kuri._.."

xxx

"Hey where's Sasuke!" Naruto said. "Where on earth has he been ttebayo!?"

"I'd rather not say..."

"It's love," said Sakura. "Sasuke's in love."

Naruto collapsed in shock.

"S-Sasuke's in love!?" he said. "With who!?"

"Who knows," said Sakura.

"He blushes a lot, he can't do anything, and he dresses fancily," said Hinata.

"And he seems like he's interested in me and Hinata now," said Naruto. "It can only be love ttebayo! Right?"

"So, where is Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Relaxing at home," said Naruto.

"Sasuke...in love..." Hinata thought.

"So Sasuke's in love..." Sakura says. "I know what that's like. Wanting to be with a wonderful man on a cold night..."

"Yeah," said Hinata. "Especially in this season, I remember old loves."

"Hey whoa what about me ttebayo!" Naruto said.

"Calm down!" Hinata grinned. "You're the only one for me."

"Wh- what's with you guys all of a sudden?" Sai said.

"You don't understand," said Sakura. "The feelings we have."

"O-Of course I do!" Sai protested.

"Oh, I know..." said Sakura.

"Hey, it's snowing again. It'll be cold tonight too ttebayo. Definitely." Naruto said.

A spirit floated outside. "Heh heh... That's right. Being alone is bad."

"Why don't we all throw a Christmas party?" said Hinata. "It'll be fun."

"Really!?" said Naruto. "Hey! Every year for Christmas we pick a star ttebayo!"

"A star?" Hinata and Sakura chorused.

"Right. Then at the party, everyone gives the star what they most want as a present." Naruto said.

Xxx

"Naruto," said Iruka. "This year, the Christmas star is you. Now, open your eyes. Here's your present from everyone."

Naruto saw a small frog wallet in a basket.

"Wow!" Naruto said.. "How did you know what I wanted? Iruka-sensei, thank you!"

Xxx

"That was fun," Naruto said. "Everyone did it at the Christmas party. I wonder who the star should be this year. Iruka-sensei..."


	7. Into the Snow

p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""I've completed the procedure to get you in the hospital," Sai said. "I'll go visit you there. Do you need anything?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Thanks, brother, I'm all right. After I stop by the lab, I'll head for the hospital."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Kuri entered her office and gasped. The petri dish lies broken on the floor. A large crystal sits beside it, with a figure inside. "The crystal... It's growing this huge!? But how? It looks just like the form of a person...! What on earth..." He moans and doubles over. "It hurts... The number of fits is increasing... Am I starting to lose it...?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Kuri lies in a hospital bed. The spirit floats outside the window. "I was lonely..." Kuri sits up. "Who's there? The window's opening?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"She floats out of the crystal she was closed in. "You have gotten the first piece of me," she says. "I am Snow Kaguya. I was named by you."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""You came to meet me...?" says Kuri. "I'll probably die soon. I see. I don't worry. My parents died so long ago, and there's no one else who will grieve... I can die in peace. You can take me at any time."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Lonely... I can somewhat understand your loneliness. I was also alone. All alone for four and a half billion years..."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Sasuke sits outside the hospital in the falling snow. "Kuri-san..." she thinks. "I might be a ninja, but there's nothing I can do for you. But I want to see you..."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"A nurse enters the room. "Hikawa-san? How are you feeling? If anything's changed..." She sees the spirit over Kuri's unconscious body. She screams./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Sasuke runs into the room and sees the nurse frozen in crystal by the spirit. "That thing!? That form... Oh no! An enemy!?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Who the hell!?" the spirit says./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Sasuke ran in and attacked. "Fireball Jutsu!" /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"The spirit cries out. "I'll retreat for now!" She leaves./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Sai rushes into the room. "Kuri!?" She runs to him. He looks up at Sasuke. "What's wrong? What happened?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Kuri was attacked."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Sasuke!?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"Kuri opens her eyes. "Brother?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Kuri!?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""That crystal..."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""The crystal!?"/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""It suddenly appeared from there... Snow Kaguya..."/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Charter;"span style="font-family: Charter-Roman; -webkit-font-kerning: none;""Snow Kaguya!?"/span/p 


	8. Starlight

Sai sits outside the coronary care unit with Sasuke.

"The crystal Kuri was talking about..." Sasuke says. "It fell from the sky the day he found the comet. The crystal grew with amazing speed. It was clearly an unknown crystal. The unknown crystal's elements caused Kuri to see hallucinations. That crystal is dangerous."

"Snow Kaguya..." Sasuke thinks. "The comet's name... Oh my..." He sat onto the couch. "It wasn't a hallucination, Sai" he says.

"You might not be able to believe this," says Sasuke, "but it's an invader. And it's from that comet."

"An invader... Could it be that unknown life form?" Sai asked.

"The crystal could be a part of it as well. Kuri might have been targeted... She might be attacked again. We should deal with that crystal."

"That can't be..." Sai says. "Kuri is being targeted by the unknown life form?"

"It's not just Kuri," thinks Sasuke. "This planet could be being targeted too. Kuri..." He thinks of Kuri.

"The point where the comet Princess Snow Kaguya vanished." Sai holds onto the mirror. They fade away and reappear in space, where they see the comet flying before them.

"The comet!?"

"Who's there!?" says the spirit. "You people are standing in the way of my path!"

"You made it appear that it vanished," Sai says, "and you've been hiding it! What do you want!? Invader! Get out of here now! Beast Scroll!"

He attacked.

"Chidori!" Sasuke attacked.

"Hahaha!" the spirit says. "You fools are like babies! What can you do!" She knocks the two back. "Hahaha!" They disappear.

"I thought that I'd slowly hide in this planet," she says. "Now with the energy of my four and a half billion years alone, I will cover this planet. This planet is mine."

Sasuke reappear in front of the Ichiraku.

"The comet hasn't vanished!" says Sasuke. "Snow Kaguya is aimed at this planet! If it continues on that course, it'll collide with Earth! The planet is in danger!"

Xxx

Sai walks to the space development building. "The invader... I can't believe it's an alien... That it attacked Kuri..." He goes inside.

"Sai!" a man calls. "There's a message from the Hokage! You've been chosen for an S-Ranked Mission!"

Kuri was standing, shaking at the doorway. She heard the announcement. Sai saw her, reached for her.

"Brother..." Kuri thinks as she ran back to the hospital.

xxx

Kuri stares at the picture book of her and her brother.

A tear falls.


	9. Countdown

December 22nd.

"This is a special bulletin," the TV reporter says. "Yesterday, the Department of Defense reached an emergency resolution with NASA and international leaders. Space Shuttle Uchiha, scheduled to launch December 24th, has been loaded with ballistic missiles. The formal announcement states that it will rendezvous with Comet Princess Snow Kaguya and blow it up, avoiding a collision."

"Blow it up!?" the group think.

"The effect of the explosion on Earth will not destroy the planet..."

"Space Shuttle Uchiha," Sasuke thinks. "Sai!"

"Heh heh..." says the spirit.

Sai enters the space development building.

"Brother," Kuri said. "Would you bring me that crystal?"

"Sister!?"

"I want to keep it near me. I'm concerned about what will happen to it there. I want to investigate it myself."

Sai enters his office and sees the crystal mass on his desk. "That's the crystal!? It's seducing Kuri. Just like the snow queen..." She picks it up. "I'll protect her! A bewitcher haunts that comet. I'll break it to pieces!" He throws the crystal down and it shatters on the floor.

Sai walks through New Tokyo International Airport. He sees Sasuke standing behind a corner.

"Sasuke!?" he says.

"Sai."

"I'm leaving. I have to commemorate this, my first flight. Blowing up a comet is a really big job, but I'll persevere and perform my duty."

"Princess Snow Kaguya is formidable," says Sasuke.. "But leave it to us."

"Sasuke...!"

Wind blows through the room with the shattered crystal.

"Oh..." says the spirit. "I can't allow this. Breaking my body into pieces! Now is the time for the realization of my eternal dream!"

Konoha Bay freezes over, and a tower of ice raises from it. More spirits appear.

"Heh heh! Now, snow dancers! Show them your blizzard dance!"

"Daisuke! This is serious!" Sasuke says. "The people on the street!" The monitor shows people falling, and being closed in ice.

"Ehehe," says a snow dancer. "Sleep." "Heh heh," says another. "Sleep."

"Sasuke! Look!" Naruto says. "The sea!" "That tower!?" "Everyone! It's an emergency! Enemies!"

Kuri coughs. "It's just like my heart's on fire," she thinks. "It's painful..." The spirit floats into his room. "You..." she says.

She carries her outside. "I came to meet you. You have a beautiful heart, like glass. You will dominate the world of ice together with me. Soon this world will be ice. This planet, and space, eternally-"

Everyone shows up - all the group using their power and stop the evil spirit.

"Princess Snow Kaguya!" Sasuke shouts. "We are the protectors of this world!"

"Hahaha!" says the spirit. "You foolish children know nothing!" She blows cold wind at them. "This world was mine from the beginning! My other self! Four and a half billion years ago! I was supposed to dominate this star system. But the world considered me a heretic, and expelled me. I was supposed to raise it. It was a blue jewel."

"Four and a half billion years ago!" says Sakura. "The ugly remains of the nebula the solar system was born from!"

"It's been a long time," she says. "I have finished my long, long wandering of four and a half billion years. I can finally return. To my beautifully raised planet!"

"Take Kuri-san to the hospital!" Sasuke says.

"Right!" Sakura disappears with her.

The spirit blows, and ice forms around them. "Now, my pretty snow dancers! Take care of them!" They fall to the ground in the ice.

Each of them now has an hallucination

"Sakura-chan, let's go to the Christmas party together."

"Naruto..."

"Ino," says Sai. "Merry Christmas."

"Sai..."

"Naruto lets go to the Christmas party together."

"Sakura-san..."

"Isn't dying alone unpleasant?" says the snow dancer. "We'll show you sweet dreams forever. You won't be alone anymore."

"Kuri-san..." thinks Sasuke

"It's only a merry Christmas if we're together, Sasuke," she says.

"That's an amazing blizzard outside," says one of the hospital nurses. She goes into Kuri's room. "Hikari-san? How are you doing?" She sees her lying unconscious on the bed, the window open. "Hikari-san!?"

Xxx

"Today is December 22nd," says the TV reporter. "Due to magnetic storms and heavy blizzards over Earth, for now the countdown for the scheduled flight of Space Shuttle Sasuke has been called off..."

"It's already December 22nd," thinks Sasuke. "It's almost the scheduled time for the Commander's space shuttle flight. If it launches like this, it'll be caught in the fight..."

The yellow ribbon around his neck loosens and falls to the ground. "Huh?" she thinks. "The ribbon... The ribbon that Kuri-san tied...!? I feel uneasy."

"Sasuke?" calls Naruto.

"Kuri-san!?" He thinks.

"Sasuke," Naruto says. "Why don't you go outside and see how it's going on the street?"

"Naruto?"

"Hurry, go," he says.

"Naruto..."

"Go! Be careful!"

He runs outside, past Naruto and Sakura.

"We'll go too, Sakura," says Naruto.

"Okay!"

"Doctor!" the nurse calls. "Come here! Hikawa-san's condition...!"

Sai sits inside the shuttle. "Kuri!?"

"Hikawa?" another crew member asks.

"Oh, no, it's nothing."

"Capcom, can't we resume the countdown yet!?"

"The magnetic storms that suddenly appeared won't calm down at all. Their cause is unknown. Besides that, the blizzard keeps getting worse. The flight might be canceled."

"Haven't you dealt with magnetic storms and blizzards before?" says Sai. "Apollo 12 took off inside a thundercloud! Let's get going!"

"You're brave, Hikawa. Aren't you scared?"

"I am scared," he admits.

"I am scared," she thinks. "But, Kuri, I want to show you this flight. I want to make you get better. Fly! Please. I feel that I have to go now. For Kuri. I want to go into space! Kuri!"


	10. Light

Sasuke runs to the hospital, carrying the ribbon. She looks in the window at Kuri. The doctor and nurse are watching him. "Kuri!?" she thinks. He presses against the glass. "Kuri, Kuri..."

"A ninja!" the nurse says. "A ninja at the window!"

"Sasuke...?" says Kuri. "Sasuke!"

"Kuri...!"

"Doctor," she says. "Please let that man inside. He's a dear friend."

The nurse opens the window, and Sasuke walks to her. "Kuri!"

An oxygen mask covers her mouth and nose.

"It looks like the flight of Space Shuttle Dark is about to be canceled," the TV reporter says. "The comet's collision with Earth can't be avoided. It's a hopeless situation."

"Naruto will destroy the comet," Sasuke thinks. "Then if Sai's space shuttle can fly safely, and Kuri hears it on the news, the pain in her heart will surely be gone. She'll get better. That's right. Kuri! Everyone, everyone is fighting, so you can do it too, Kuri. You can do it!"

Naruto shot a rasengan at the comet. The ice breaks apart, freeing the others.

Snow dancers swirl around Sai's shuttle. "Sai! Hold on!"

Naruto shot magic at the Snow Dancers. The snow dancers are destroyed, and the people on the street are freed. Krad looks up at the sky. "The blizzard has ended."

"Hmph!" says the spirit. She flies into the air.

"Snow Kaguya!" Naruto calls.

Naruto put his hands together.

"I will gather my power! At Snow Kaguya!" His rasengan gathered in his hands.

The spirit turns around. "You followed me! All the way here! Damn!"

"You've distorted disgustingly!" Naruto says. "Ice wanderer! Princess Snow Kaguya!" He lifts up the rasengan in his hands. "Return to the original dust of space!"

"That white light! This white light that expelled me. It can't be..."

Naruto shot the light at her.

"It can't be! The strongest light!"

The spirit is destroyed in a burst of light.


	11. Christmas Star

Sakura looks up. "What is that light!?"

Naruto holds Hinata.

Kuri stares into the sky at the huge light.

"The comet just vanished in an instant!"

"Amazing energy!"

"What happened!? Did it burn up!?"

"It couldn't be..." Sakura thinks.

"Leave it to us."

"Sasuke...? You...!?"

"The magnetic storm is gone! The blizzard has stopped too! It's all clear!"

"Take off the missiles! Quickly! Continue the countdown! Change to the original plan, Project Dark Frontier! Space Shuttle Dark will go to the moon base! To the moon!"

"A meteor shower!" Naruto says.

"It's falling just like rice sugar candy," says Hinata.

Kuri watches the television as the shuttle takes off. "Brother," she thinks. "Now the space shuttle Sai is on is headed for the moon. It took off."

The doctor smiles at Sasuke. "You are her only relative. We did a drip-feed and an IAPB, but her heartbeat won't come back. We've done all we can. He turned the corner tonight."

Sasuke looks at Kuri. "Kuri...! What... should I do? I can't do anything for her...Kuri..." He wipes away a tear.

Naruto and Hinata watch from outside. The others appear.

"Hinata! Naruto!" Sakura says. "How's Kuri?"

"Sasuke's caring for her," says Naruto.

"This year, the star of Christmas is Sasuke," says Sakura. "Let's all give Sasuke a Christmas present! I'm going to save Kuri."

Sakura goes into the hospital and begins to heal Kuri.

"What!?"

"Merry Christmas, Sasuke."

Kuri's spirit is floating in front of Sasuke.

"Kuri..."

"Who's there?" She says. She opens her eyes. "S-Sasuke.."

"Yes," says Sasuke. "That's right, Kuri. Open your eyes, and look."

She sees space all around her. "This is... It can't be. Am I... in space now?" She looks around. "The stars look like rice sugar candy."

They hold their hands over their eyes as the sun shines at them.

"Amazing. Dawn. Seeing a view like this... Now I can die in peace."

"Kuri..." Sasuke thinks. "It's like stars are falling inside my chest. I wonder if all everyone experiences this kind of sorrow. I brought you..."

"Like this," Sasuke says, "we can pass away anywhere, together. But, you have to live. When your brother returns to Earth from the moon, you must meet him at the light of your home. Then again, this is your dream. To come to this beautiful space. Next time you come, surely you'll be together with Satoshi, and watch the dawn..."

"You..." Kuri says. "Sasuke..."

He presses her finger to her lips. He holds her face and kisses her deeply. He pulls away from her. "You came to see whether or not I was in the sky. I love you, my priestess... Promise me that you'll come again."

"I promise!" she says.

"Live, and come here again. To watch the beautiful dawn."

"Her heartbeat is back!" the doctor says.

"EKG is normal too!"

"We did it, Hikawa-san!"

Kuri opens her eyes. "Then to the heavens. To search for Sasuke..." Tears fall from her eyes. "Dark...!"

"Kuri..." Sai thinks as he floats in space. "Can he see it? This beautiful dawn. Soon Space Shuttle Dark will land on the moon. The moon is already before my eyes, Kuri. we'll go to the moon, Kuri. For sure."

Sasuke watches the sunrise as the snow gently falls.

He leans over Kuri and kisses her as Christmas dawns over Konoha.


End file.
